The #4/fourth-seeded Middlebury men's tennis team blanked #20/fifth-seeded Colby 5-0 in NESCAC Quarterfinal action on Friday. The Panthers advance to the semifinals for the 15th-consecutive year and will take on #2/top-seeded Tufts at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday at Williams. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Middlebury grabbed the first pair of points with wins at #2 and #3, respectively. Neel Epstein and Robby Ward earned an 8-5 triumph in the second spot, before the third duo of Julian Wu and Joe Mairs claimed an 8-6 victory.
• The doubles match at the top of the lineup was a back-and-forth affair. Jake Cohen and Jan Wenger took a 5-3 lead, but Panther tandem Aidan Harris and Noah Laber battled back to force a tiebreak. In the tiebreaker, Middlebury outlasted its opponents 8-6 to give the squad a 3-0 advantage.
• Laber carried the momentum from doubles into singles action, nabbing the next point with a swift straight-set victory (6-1, 6-3).
• Zihao Yuan clinched the match for the Panthers, cruising 6-2, 6-1 at #6.
• When the triumph was secured, Harris, Epstein and Wu were up one set. Harris led 6-2, 5-4 in the second spot, Epstein was ahead 6-2 and tied at 5-5 at #3, and Wu won his first set 6-3 and was deadlocked 3-3 in the fourth spot.
• In the fifth slot, Ward fell 7-5 in his initial set, but battled back to win the second 6-0 before the match was decided.

NOTES

• The Panthers and the Mules met for the 14th time as the hosts improve to 14-0 against Colby.
• This marked the 15th-straight NESCAC Quarterfinal win for Middlebury.
• The Panthers are seeking their 11th conference championship and third-straight title.
• The Jumbos enter the semifinals with a perfect 20-0 record. 

The remainder of the NESCAC Championship weekend will take place at primary host Williams.